Tag: Kushner security clearance

Dems ramp up scrutiny of Kushner’s security clearance

House Democrats are ramping up their investigation of White House security clearances following reports that President Trump ordered a top-secret clearance for his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner despite concerns from intelligence officials.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) upped the ante Friday when he threatened to subpoena the White House for documents and witness interviews regarding security clearances that the committee has already demanded.

Democrats are also taking an interest in the roles ex-White House chief of staff John Kelly and former White House counsel Donald McGahn played in the process for Kushner’s security clearance. Both former aides were reportedly closely involved in the process but have since left the Trump administration.

View the complete March 1 article by Cristina Marcos on The Hill website here.

Trump Ordered Officials to Give Jared Kushner a Security Clearance

The president’s son-in-law has traveled around the world, conducting high-level work on behalf of the White House. Yet the Department of Justice found substantial issues related to his security clearance.CreditCreditSaul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

WASHINGTON — President Trump ordered his chief of staff to grant his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, a top-secret security clearance last year, overruling concerns flagged by intelligence officials and the White House’s top lawyer, four people briefed on the matter said.

Mr. Trump’s decision in May so troubled senior administration officials that at least one, the White House chief of staff at the time, John F. Kelly, wrote a contemporaneous internal memo about how he had been “ordered” to give Mr. Kushner the top-secret clearance.

The White House counsel at the time, Donald F. McGahn II, also wrote an internal memo outlining the concerns that had been raised about Mr. Kushner — including by the C.I.A. — and how Mr. McGahn had recommended that he not be given a top-secret clearance.

View the complete February 28 article by Maggie Haberman, Michael S. Schmidt, Adam Goldman and Annie Karni on The New York Times website here.

Trump demanded top-secret security clearance for Jared Kushner last year despite concerns of John Kelly and intelligence officials

In 2018, President Trump ordered chief of staff John Kelly to give his son-in-law Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance, despite officials’ concerns. (Reuters)

President Trump early last year directed his then-chief of staff, John F. Kelly, to give presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance — a move that made Kelly so uncomfortable that he documented the request in writing, according to current and former administration officials.

After Kushner, a senior White House adviser, and his wife, Ivanka Trump, pressured the president to grant Kushner the long-delayed clearance, Trump instructed Kelly to fix the problem, according to a person familiar with Kelly’s account, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

Kelly told colleagues that the decision to give Kushner top-secret clearance was not supported by career intelligence officials, and he memorialized Trump’s request in an internal memo, according to two people familiar with the memo and the then-chief of staff’s concerns.

View the complete February 28 article by Josh Dawsey, Seung Min Kim and Shane Harris on The Washington Post website.